


Reinventing Loving

by colazitron



Category: Ed Sheeran (Musician), One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-14
Updated: 2013-05-14
Packaged: 2017-12-11 20:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/802943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colazitron/pseuds/colazitron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Ed meet and become friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reinventing Loving

**Author's Note:**

  * For [samanthajane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/samanthajane/gifts).



**001.**

“So... how d’you know Chris then?” Ed asks, pulling his knees up against his chest and wiggling around a bit until he’s comfortable on the sofa. It’s old and a little lumpy and he probably shouldn’t be comfortable on it ever, never mind sleep on it as he’s done for weeks now and will for quite a few more weeks. It’s just that. Well. He sort of thinks of it as “his sofa” and supposes that’s part of why he likes it.

“Oh, um,” Harry says, smiling a bit shyly. “He did session guitar for The X-Factor.”

“You were on X-Factor?” Ed asks. Harry’s lips quirk a bit more easily and he nods.

“You didn’t win though, right?” Ed asks, because wouldn’t that be slightly awkward. He’s fairly certain some older painter-decorator won though.

“No, we came third,” Harry says.

“Oh! You’re in that boyband! Um… Roundabout?” Something that sounds like traffic, he’s sure of it. Harry laughs, not unkindly and shakes his head.

“One Direction,” he says. He sounds a bit proud and Ed thinks ‘good’. He’s not exactly a fan of The X-Factor, never has been, but if Harry’s proud of what he did there he can respect that.

 

**002.**

“Back again?” Ed smiles when Harry climbs on the second sofa and falls down onto it face first.

“They’ve not sorted our flats out yet and I didn’t fancy staying in a hotel room again.”

“You’ll make your own food then, Styles,” Chris says sternly, but sets Harry’s bag down by the sofa for him. Harry turns his head sideways to grin charmingly up at him.

“Don’t I always?”

“Oy. I’ll have no cheek from you before you’re even a proper popstar,” Chris says around a smile and leaves them to go check his email. For a while they stay in companionable silence.

“Fajitas okay?” Harry asks then.

“Mate, anything,” Ed says. He means it too.

**003.**

“Well?” Harry asks, clearly anxious. Ed bites his thumb and takes a moment to mentally go through the song Harry’s played him again. Also, it’s fun how Harry starts to fidget more and more the longer Ed draws this out.

“Ed,” Harry whines, when Ed’s clearly having too much fun with it. Ed laughs and leans over to jokingly pinch Harry’s cheek.

“Alright, alright,” he says. “Don’t take this the wrong way, yeah?”

Harry nods and swallows, his jaw tightening as he braces for criticism or rejection.

“You’re a lot better than I thought you’d be.”

“But?”

“No, I mean, that was it. I’d sort of thought you were five pretty faces, but, like, you can sing, actually.”

“Thank you,” Harry says without a hint of sarcasm.

“Not the kind of music I’d put out, but still… fun.”

“Yeah. ‘s just our first. We kind of have no idea what we’re doing, so it’s hard to ask for things. We could, I think, but we don’t even know what to ask for.”

Ed nods because he remembers feeling like that. It takes quite a few tries to find out what kind of music you want to make and then a few more to find out how to do that.

“Unless you want to write us something,” Harry adds with a wink to show he’s joking, but Ed’s already going through his back catalogue in his mind. He’s sure he’s got a few ballads to make big productions of.

“Actually,” he says and watches Harry’s eyes go wide with wonder.

**004.**

“I’d love to have had something like that though,” Harry says. He’s lying on the floor, his calves up on the sofa next to Ed.

“We broke up,” Ed reminds him, the hurt of it not entirely gone yet.

“Yeah, but. At least you got to feel all that, you know? I don’t. I only ever get crushes and that’s nice and fun and stuff, but not. Not what you sing about.”

“You’re only 17, Haz,” Ed says. “Alice and I had basically just started then.”

“’S not gonna happen like that for me though, is it.”

“Your turn’ll come.”

“Yeah, I suppose. I just want that kind of love. I want to know what it’s like.”

**005.**

@Harry_Styles: “@edsheeran Chris just played me the studio version of ‘Give Me Love’… SICK.”

**006.**

It takes Ed a while and, to be honest, a mate nudging him and saying something about how ‘that kid’s got stars in his eyes every time he looks at you’ for him to notice. He grabs for his necklace automatically and remembers what Harry said about crushing on people. Nevertheless he feels a bit squirmy and when Harry looks over to shoot him a bright smile, he smiles back. He thinks, as he ducks his head slightly, that he’s a little pleased.

**007.**

Harry didn’t get there early, or at all, really, but he called and came over to Chris’ after dinner with his family and band and he brought Ed congratulatory Star Wars Lego, so Ed forgives him. It wasn’t his fault in the first place. It’s gone two in the morning, Chris has gone to bed already, but Ed’s hyped up on being number one on the album charts and guesses Harry’s feeling too wired to sleep as well. So they get out the Lego.

They build about half of it with animated chatter and a few scuffles about who’s right about the manual and then Harry falls quiet. Ed thinks he’s fallen asleep sitting up until he lifts his head to stare at Ed. He’s got a bit of a haunted look on his face.

“We’re number one on the charts,” he says. Ed snorts a laugh.

“Yeah, mate.”

“But. What do we do now? Like. The only way is-”

“Up,” Ed interrupts him and drops the Lego to grab Harry’s elbows. “You’ll just do another number one single and then a number one album and a sell-out tour and this time next year, you’ll be famous all over the UK.”

“No pressure then.” Harry laughs slightly hysterically, but relaxes.

“None whatsoever,” Ed grins. Harry turns back to the Lego, but just stares at it blankly before looking back up. Ed quirks an eyebrow in question and Harry licks and bites his lips – hard – before leaning over the Lego between them, bracing one hand on Ed’s thigh and one on his shoulder.

“Oh,” Ed says. Harry stops to look at him.

“Yeah?” he asks, soft and breathy. Ed blinks and swallows and then nods.

“Alright.”

**007b.**

When Chris has woken them and gone out to kindly fetch them all breakfast, Ed pulls at Harry’s arm until he climbs up on the sofa with him. He ignores the morning breath and Lego blocks somehow digging into his back, because Harry’s lips are just as soft as last night and he kisses just as sweetly. Knowing he hasn’t dreamed that up is just more important than any minor inconvenience.

 

**The End**


End file.
